The World Machine
by Lessgreat
Summary: The world of Destiny is governed by a Machine. It determines what works and what doesn't. Everything is subject to its will. The Guardians must protect their city and the Traveler lest the whole world be consumed by the Darkness. Even after that however the world machine will continue to turn and begin anew. Until it is slain or until it achieves its directiv


_"My name is Janus, the year is irrelevant. Your time is not my time. My time is longer. Your winter is a decade of my life. I have a brother. He knows what I know, the way of this world."_

 _"We're prisoners. This life is a lie, our lives not yours. You still live in truth, your life is real. No of us will dare speak about this fate, I've embraced it unlike my brother, silently we envy your truth."_

 _"No not even death can tear us out of our fate, don't you understand. The World Machine is our author."_

Recording start:

"-and that is why I hate you John."

"Well frankly you can go suck a di-"

*DING!*

"Sammy look we all know you can play a triangle, but right now the grown ups are talking."

"We are LIVE!"

"Really? since when?"

Elapsed time:

"Oh."

"They can edit it later anyway. Think you can do that Sam I sure it won't be too much-"

*SLAM*

"And she's gone. Well we've wasted enough time as it is. John would you like to start our little session."

"My name is Dr. Jonathan Snyder. I've worked for the program for three years now. Currently I have been promoted to an observational post. I plan to continue work at the facility until the project reaches its completion."

"My name is Corey Stein, I am currently the director of the program observation and behavioral analysis team. I began my work here as an intern when this facility was founded. With the work we do I have no doubt that we are doing justices to the advancement of humanity. Currently we are in a month and a half into our first live project. Before we've had some system tests, but now we have moved straight into full scale testing. The code hasn't hit any terrible failures. All 4.345M units are actively running."

Elapsed time

"Can someone bring me a tablet? Thank you Sam."

"Let's talk about recording zero eight four."

"-Turning on Bluetooth annnd done."

Linking sound files. Complete

"The director of preservation and life support wanted me to include in this session that stasis gel isn't a carcinogen, as rumored by our disposal staff. The beta testers unfortunately were exposed to a reactor leak… yeah, it was engineering's fault. Good news is we do not have to rely on sedatives to keep our patients under nor do we need the same supplies to keep them kicking."

"Of course the effects of the Gel will be continuously monitored by our bioteam. There of course is a full report that we are sending with this recording."

Elapsed time 00:07:22

"The report covers extensive details that we are not covering in this recording. Instead the good doctor, I, and a sped up sound file shall narrate the life of our test subjects."

"Rather than going to the very beginning. I think it is appropriate that we start with the end of a journey.

Our subjects live in a world that is on the brink of chaos. Mankind is dying as an incomprehensible force consumes everything. The last city on earth is the location of humanity's last hope; the Traveler and his Guardians. While he hovers at low orbit above the last city in a sleeping state, his light strengthens humanity. Everyday his ghosts recover long lost warriors from all across the solar system to become Guardians of the city. These Guardians channel the light as weapons to fight back the alien hordes that have come to stamp out humanity. However, their time is short. As the days progress so does the encroachment and the expansion of the Darkness. With the darkness comes greater swarms of demons and horrible champions of evil. Only by crushing these champions is the darkness pushed back. Like firewood, the defeat of these foes ignites a fire that beacons the light of the traveler further across the whole star system. The Guardians are all that stand between life and death. These Guardians are resurrected in the light, in it they remain immortal beings that can never die. But, if slayed while in the dark. The light of the Guardians will be consumed by the Darkness and the Guardians shall breath no more. I hope you made the connection by now that our test subjects are the Guardians. There are subjects awaiting for a ghost to awaken them on several voxel worlds. When the darkness defeats a test subject they are permanently removed from the simulation.

Their first challenge came in the form of the Vex. The mission team decided to follow through with the original storyline of the Destiny video game, at least in the beginning. It was up to teams of Guardians to find the Black garden and to defeat the embodiment of Darkness.

Many were consumed on the pathway to the gate. For those who stayed the course the black garden was found. One night hundreds of humanity's heroes gathered at the base of the gate to partake in a grand invasion. In glory they charge the gate. Every single warrior found themselves alone on the other side of the gate. The first minutes were the ones that tried the Crusaders the most. To conquer the black garden seemed impossible, however one did.

Alone, he made it to the heart while others were still behind in their own instances.

A champion of the light, this Titan vanquished the vex giants. He had saved humanity.

When the heart could beat no more the Crusaders were united all across space and time.

Or at least what remained. We almost ran out of cyanide that day."

"The next day a ceremony was held to honor the returning crusaders. Medals were exchanged, praises made,and hope was restored.

The main event began with the Speaker,'Standing before you is a hero that fought the Darkness. His determination, his skill… his luck led him to victory. Look at this giant of a man. See the light of the Traveler within. Know that by the way of the Traveler you can too become legend!' the packed theater remained silent in respect for the Titan for he was the one. The Guy.

"You can celebrate Guardians for now. Remain diligent for judgement day approaches. We must keep our enemies at bay. You all must become champions like this Titan. Only then can we stand against the darkness." Then he held out his hands. His ghost made a pearl white orb appear in the hands of the speaker. In an ancient tongue the Speaker said a prayer.

In harmony the room responded, "Amen." For that moment the hearts and minds of every guardian in that room were united in purpose, in thought, and in spirit.

Well all except the Wolf that stood in the doorway of the theater. His arms were crossed, he was shaking his head. He was a hunter he was shorter than most but taller than most short people..

He said nothing, the Wolf choose to protest their actions in silence. No one noticed him, thus the ceremony continued unhindered. The Speaker then presented a gift. It was a gold rifle of an original design. Its barrel glowed with vibrant energy. Test subjects familiar with the game series recognized it as the 'stranger's rifle.'

In the audience, the Wolf could hear the faint groans of Guardians who desired such a legendary weapon. Someone whistled sharply.

Such a weapon would not fall into the hands of another man. Well at least until the day that 'No Time To Explain' could be discovered.

The noise of groans, murmurs, and laughs dimmed. "Now a moment of silence for those who died in defense of the city," the Speaker ordered. One by one they all bowed their heads in respect. The Wolf said no word. He too bowed his head. The ceremony ended like that with everyone reflecting. That is not to say everyone kept silent. But everyone felt in some way humbled.

While all the other Guardians exited the theater, the Wolf lingered at the wide theater doors. The conquering hero himself was walking and speaking with another titan. A younger, inexperienced titan at before the doorway, the hero stopped. He turned to face the titan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "-trials. Bring only the gear you wear standing before me. Do not bring anything else to Mars tomorrow." Then the hero exited the theater without even considering the Wolf. The Wolf however watched the hero as he walked out and followed him until he turned right into the next hallway. Still leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed, he looked at the titan",Did he accept?"

The titan stood stiffly with his shoulders out and his back straight. The titan choose to not look in the direction of the Wolf as he spoke,"He agreed to my training over the course of a month's time." Both the titan's and the Wolf's expression were hidden by their helmets. "That is if I can pass an evaluation tommorrow."

"He's going to expect the best out of you. Remember to remain vigilant and to maintain your self-control. Those virtues are of the greatest that I can teach you. There are of course many others."

"Sir, I will never master your arts as we are of two different schools of combat. I believe it my duty as a titan to be strong: in will, in intelligence, and in body."

The Wolf shifted, his body language became less tense. He extended his hand. The titan took it and shook the hand firmly, as expected.

"Congratulations Mel, you found yourself a mentor who can teach you something helpful. If anything Mel out of all the neophyte titans that I have met, you carry the greatest potential. Why I'd say you're a great warrior as you are."

The titan nodded, "Thank you, sir."

Together they exited the theater, they went their separate ways at an intersection down the hallway. Mel, he was off to prepare himself for the trials ahead. The Wolf had a plane to fly.

On hangar deck 20, both walls were lined with various ships receiving upgrades and repairs. bFlex (the b is silent, why is it there you ask...I'm not sure.) was wear he needed to be. Sitting

criss-cross-applesauce next to a Copper ship. A ship essential for the completion of his mission. A distress signal of human origin indicates a stranded Guardian on Venus. No one expects the missions to be much, Guardians losing their jumpships is a frequent occurrence. Especially in the novice group who have a large chance to crash their ship due to inexperience. For bFlex this is not his first rescue mission. He himself isn't prone to losing his own ship. Mistakes were made.

Then a women walked to the ship, see had the appearance of a repair worker. So when began inspecting the ship from different angles, bFlex didn't give her much of his attention. Suddenly, bFlex's sunflower yellow ghost appears,"Good Evening Val!I wasn't sure if you actually come but look you're here!"

Val is broken out of her daze. She turned to the yellow ghost and a puzzled bFlex,"Pyro? I didn't realize you were a ghost... talk about catfishing." She muttered the last part.

When she looked at bFlex she quirked an eyebrow, "I take it that this is your friend, BeeFlux.?"

bFlex cast a glance at his ghost and whispered,"Who is she?"

"Her? She's just a friend I met on the bounty forums. We send messages once and awhile."

Then a bronze ghost with spikes appear materialized between the two. With a feminine voice it spoke,"So you're the Flex guy that Pyro talks about."

"Really like what?"

Pyro's body rotated rapidly and his eye darted around,"Oh you know good things. Yup. Oh hey bFlex are those new gloves?!"

"Yeah, but you already know that. I mean you're the one that clothes me."

"Uh well I-."The bronze decided she would interject,"Actually it mostly negative stuff, no doubt that he meant it all." bFlex looked like he was on the verge of tears,"Oh... I see."

Now Pyro was panicking,"No nothing serious just nit picky stuff and whatnot. Like snoring. Yeah."

bFlex visibly brightened,"...oh ok. I mean if I annoy you that much just tell me bud."

At that moment the Wolf walked into the hanger through the main doorway. bFlex had been watching the door way for his pilot."Hey! That's the guy."

bFlex sprung up and ran over to the Wolf. Val watched bFlex as he went away. To say the least, she was definitely unimpressed. With an eye roll she says,"He's definitely as you described him. What do you think Sparky?"

The spiked Bronze ghost nodded, or it yawed up then down.

"Riiiiight I going to delete that post that a frustrated Pyro made."

Then, the bronze ghost spoke,"It'd be a real shame if your Guardian were to learn that his very own ghost had some unsettling things to say about him."

"Y-y-you can't! If he hears about the things I've posted about him... he'll never trust me again!"

Sparky floated closer to Pyro,"Well perhaps you considered my offer then?Hmm."

Pyro shuddered, or rather he quickly expanded rotated and then contracted again,"Ew! Nope nope nope nope." Pyro flew away to some other corner of the hanger. Sparky chased him,"Hey! Come Back we're not done here!"

Val turned her attention back to the ship in front of her. It was a large vessel, with copper colored hull. A vanguard decal was mirrored on both sides of the ship. It had a top turret, a blocky cockpit, its shape is a length oval from the cockpit to the main rotating thrusters. Its main access point was a ramp right in the back of the ship. The huntress placed a hand on the ship, she felt its hull as she walked. Val treated the ship as if it were a majestic creature, she was very interested in its design. Its workings. "I wonder how long it would take me to completely disassemble a ship like this?"

"...I take it that you're his partner then..." The new voice caused Val to jump,"AH!" She turned around to see a hunter in camo green and brown, a really old cloak, wearing bog wild boots, an infinite lines helmet, neuroghast gauntlets and a crest of Alpha Lupi.

"Please stop touching my ship, it's kinda unsettling when you look at it that way," The Wolf said.

She looked at the hunter then at her hand on the ship, then back to the hunter. "No."

"...Yes"

"It feels too good to not touch."

"...?!"

That is when bFlex ran up to the Wolf from behind,"Hey I got you the parts I owe you."

The Wolf reluctantly averted his gaze from his ship to the boy next to him,"...Pleasure doing buisness with you Flin."

"Actually Cracked Nut it's bFlex."

"Right sorry I'm not good with names, likewise my name isn't...that."

"It not?"

"No my name is Crooked Nose. By the way what's the name of your partn- AHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY DAMSEL?!" The Wolf turned to see Val rubbing the ship with two hands. Then she used her right hand to rub the fuel line connected to the ship. Ew.

He looked at bFlex again, he pointed at the offender, "Does she do this to everybody's ship?"

bFlex just shrugged his elbows,"I don't know. We kinda just met."

"But you are acquainted with her somewhat because she is your partner. Right?"

"Actually, she's n-" Suddenly a wild Pyro appeared. "bFlex when is that pilot gonna get here!"

The Wolf waved a hand at the ghost, "Hi."

"Oh thank God, look we have to go like right now!"

The Wolf shrugged and pressed a button next to the rear hatch. It opened and became a ramp for the Guardians to walk on.

Val gasped and thrusted herself inside of the Wolf's ship...Ew. bFlex tried to tell the Wolf that they were working together,"Uh she isn't actually my-"

Pyro quickly blocked bFlex's face from the sight of the Wolf,"Yes she is. She's an experienced mechanic. We need her to repair the ship of the stranded Guardian."

"Mechanic huh? I guess that makes sense." The Wolf face was still concealed by his helmet yet his voice had an evident tone of concern,"Please keep an eye on her just in case she calibrates something." He shuddered.

Thus the three Guardians boarded the 'Quite Content Damsel'. The Wolf entered the cockpit and his ghost appeared behind him, he sat in the copilot seat from behind,"ARGH, let's get this ship back on the high seas. Buckle Up ye land lovers, ARGH!" The Wolf ghost had an iron banner shell, it was also apparently a pirate. For some reason. Probably vex shenanigans.

The tower gave the clearance for the his ship to leave tower airspace.

The ship ascended into the upper atmosphere. In the cargo hold of the ship Val and bFlex sat on seats parallel to each other. With nothing to do but wait, bFlex kicked his legs and whistled softly. Val was hunched over, she was intently watching a datapad full of statistics of the ship itself. "Hmm she's not very efficient. Probably an over correction to the thrusters. Though this should mean that the quantum drive should be more effective. Given this ship's drive...," Val tapped on her datapad,"We should be at Venus in a ten minutes."

She looked up expectantly at bFlex who, to her disappointment was reading a book,"...Cool..." Pyro materialized right next to Val.

"Which also means I am a hundred miles away from her!"

Val then changed in appearance, gone was the dock worker uniform. In its place were: an aspriet 1.1 chest armor, an aspriet 1.0 cloak, a tokame ranger helmet, rustburner boots, and vaquero gauntlets. Such an event would be called an anomaly. That is unless you have a ghost, then flash changing is just as mundane as taking a bath. Which means...

"Surprise! Thought you could get away from me so easily didn't ya Pyro!"

The horror before Pyro was Sparky herself. He was paralyzed in fear for not only had he failed to escaped her but now he was trapped in a starship that had already exited the orbit of the Earth. "No, no no no NO NO, HOW DID YOU ESCAPE!"

Sparky whizzed closer to Pyro until the tip of one of her spikes was almost touching Pyro."When you trapped me in that ventilation shaft, I decided I would transmat myself directly to Val's inventory!" "So have you reconsidered?"

"I refuse to indulge you! And to eliminate your leverage against me. Hey bFlex, I told the internet that you're a cowardly introvert that wastes his time reading fanfiction."

bFlex was still reading heavily into his book, thus the weight of his ghost's words were deflected. Without removing his eyes from the book bFlex says," Probably right...or whatever. I wouldn't tell your family about it. Awwww I lost my page."

"Hah take that you Harlem!"

"Oh please I doubt he actually paid attention to a single thing that you said. Why do you hate me anyway, it's not like I'm asking much of you."

Pyro rolled his eye,"You may be selling yourself short now. But just like when we play online poker, you up the anty until you get what you want."

"That's just a game stupid!"

"Games can represent life as much as life represents itself."

"Look it'll be fun. We'll fly around the city. Watch the sun disappear the traveler. It'll be night when we return to the tower. Then at that moment you'll look me in the eye and you ask me,'Sparky would you mar-"

"Wow! Sparky you are spending way too much time on the RP forums," Val to the rescue!

"Praise the Traveler!" Pyro took this opportunity to enter the pocket dimension that was bFlex's inventory.

"One day my husbando, you consider my offer, do you hear me!"

bFlex looked away from his book,"He said,' fat chance, go away.' Pyro was very adamant about that last part." He went to reading his book again. His book if you must know, is 'The Book of Useless Information' trust me it's a great read.

Sometime later the ship entered the thick atmosphere of Venus. The Wolf spoke through the radio,"I found a clearing a mile and a half from the signal source. I'm staying with the ship to make sure we don't get stuck as well."

The ship landed at the base of a volcano. There the ground that had been jungle, must've been recently charred by the blue lava. When the ship came to a complete stop the rear ramp lowered as it had before. Val was the first to exit, followed closely by bFlex. She looking longingly at the Damsel. Sparky appeared and transmatted Val's sparrow,"Don't worry we will see her again."

Thus Val and Pyro got on their sparrows and rode under the stormy skies of the day. The parting words of the Wolf propelled them onward.

"Happy hunting."


End file.
